Trial begins against 2 involved in polygamist child sex abuse case

Federal prosecutors Tuesday began presenting their case on the first
day of the trial against two Arizona men accused of aiding and
participating in a child sex abuse ring involving 10 girls as young as
nine years old. 

Brothers LaDell and Torrance Bistline are members
of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an
offshoot of the Mormon Church that still practices polygamy, and,
according to the government, followers of its leader Samuel Rappylee
Bateman, who in April admitted to having regular sex with his ten child brides and at least 12 other spiritual wives. 

Before
15 jurors in a Phoenix courtroom Tuesday afternoon, attorney Kathy
Henry called Bateman “evil” and “a monster,” but insisted that her
client, Torrance Bistline, had no knowledge of, let alone involvement
in, Bateman’s sexual crimes.

“He’s raped nobody,” Henry said.
“He’s exploited no children. He didn’t even hang out with Bateman. He
was too busy perfecting his business.”

Torrance Bistline
began making large profits off his company Velociwrapper, which sells
an automatic cable wrapping machine for solar and wind farms, around the
same time Bateman rose to power in the FLDS community. Henry said
Bateman and another FLDS member named Maroni Johnson, who worked with
Torrance Bistline, took advantage of him and took control over his
profits, using the money to buy Bentley cars and other extravagant
purchases. 

Johnson also admitted to having sex with children, and will be called to testify in the trial.

“This case is nothing more than Maroni Johnson trying to take down Torrance Bistline and his company,” Henry said. 

Jacob Faussette, representing LaDell Bistline Jr.,
painted Bateman and Johnson as the villains of the narrative, taking
advantage of those around them. He asked the jury to pay attention to
three key elements of the case while they listen over the next several
weeks: “Money, sex and power.”

He didn’t deny LaDell Bistline’s participation in the child sex abuse ring. 

Samuel
Bateman rose to power in the FLDS community, located mostly in Colorado
City, Arizona, in 2019, eight years after the arrest and life
imprisonment of Warren Jeffs left a power vacuum. From 2019 to 2022,
Bateman amassed at least two dozen wives, 10 of whom were children when
he married and first had sex with them.

Federal prosecutor Ryan
Powell said LaDell was a key contributor to Bateman’s rise to power
giving his own two daughters, who were 9 and 11 at the time, to Bateman
in 2020. 

“This is a case about power and control,” Powell told
the jury. “These girls were simply traded like property. These men
wrapped this child sex abuse ring in a shroud of religion. They claimed
to be doing God’s will.”

Powell said LaDell gave two other girls
for whom he was responsible to Bateman, and traveled to Colorado to find
more. Torrance, according to the government, bankrolled the operation
with proceeds from his company. Powell said the two Bentleys were gifts
from Torrance to Bateman to acknowledge Bateman’s power. 

He said
LaDell regularly participated in group sex with Bateman and his child
brides for three years, and that Torrance anally raped a 14-year-old in
what Bateman called an “atonement ceremony.”

He also accused the
defendants of interfering with the FBI’s investigation by deleting
messages to and from Bateman and trying to hide digital and physical
evidence. 

Powell displayed 10 photos on a screen for the jury,
each one depicting one of Bateman’s child brides around the time they
were married to Bateman, ranging in age from 9 to 17. He then displayed a
group photo of 23 of Bateman’s wives. The youngest stood on a box to be
at eye level with the rest.

One juror silently cried throughout
his roughly 45-minute presentation, repeatedly wiping her eyes.
Faussette took issue with that, asking U.S. District Judge Susan
Brnovich if he could ask the juror again whether she has the ability to
stay impartial. 

In the questionnaire sent to her along with her
summons, she wrote that the “FLDS is disgusting,” and that she is
“already outraged at the defendants,” but didn’t raise her hand Tuesday
morning when the jury pool was asked whether they can’t be impartial. 

Brnovich said Faussette had his chance to ensure her impartiality during jury selection Tuesday morning. 

LaDell Bistline is indicted
on two counts of using interstate commerce to entice a minor into
sexual conduct, four counts of transporting a minor for sexual activity
and one count of transferring obscene materials to minors. Torrance
Bistline is indicted on two counts of destruction of evidence, one count
of using interstate commerce to entice a minor, conspiracy to destroy
evidence, conspiracy to tamper with an official proceeding, and
tampering with an official proceeding. 

Seven of Bateman’s adult wives have pleaded guilty to similar charges, and some have already been sentenced to prison.